Rory Amon was one of six Northern Beaches councillors in 2018 to vote against the plan to reduce poker machine harm across the area,where punters lost $48 million on pokies in the final six months of that year.
Councillor Rory Amon,who is running as the Liberal candidate to replace outgoing Cities Minister Rob Stokes.Sam Mooy
The policy sought to encourage venues to restrict cash-outs at ATMs,slow and reduce playing time and extend self-exclusion laws to family members or another third party. Council received 191 submissions about the plan;131 in support and 60 against.
It followed,who took his own life after an overnight binge on poker machines at venues including the Dee Why RSL.
,making Northern Beaches then only the second council to develop a gambling harm minimisation policy.
Amon,who will face off against teal challenger Jacqui Scruby in the March 25 poll,said he believed problem gambling was a scourge on society and he fully supported Premier Dominic Perrottet’s proposal for statewide pokies reform.
“This is why in 2017 as a councillor I voted in favour of calling on the NSW government to put an immediate cap on poker machine licences in the Northern Beaches LGA,” he told theHerald.
Pittwater independent Jacqui Scruby,who was the campaign manager for federal member for Mackellar Dr Sophie Scamps.Natalie Boog
Amon did not vote in support of the gambling harm management plan in 2018 because council does not have jurisdiction to regulate gambling and gaming machines. The council does,however,have limited powers to influence the reduction of electronic gambling machines.
Amon was endorsed in December as the Pittwater candidate to replace Stokes,the outgoing cities minister,who last year declared poker machines entrenched disadvantage,destroyed homes and distorted and disfigured local clubs.
,Stokes said clubs had become “unwelcoming junk spaces ... all directed to deprive the vulnerable of their savings”.
Stokes has held Pittwater since 2007. The seat,which he holds on a margin of more than 22 per cent,has been held exclusively by the Liberal Party since it was established in 1973,with the exception of independent Alex McTaggart after a 2005 byelection.
Scruby,who has commended Stokes for his rhetoric on gambling,is campaigning for compulsory cashless gaming with $100 daily limits,$1 maximum bets per spin and accelerated removal of machines. She has also called for a ban on pokies in venues between 4am and 10am.
The independent said she was disappointed Amon had voted against any plan that sought to reduce problem gambling.
Outgoing Cities Minister Rob Stokes.Michael Quelch
Scruby said,as an independent,she would contribute to making good policy,better.
“Independents play an important role in leading debate and pushing for progressive reform in areas the other parties don’t touch to the extent that they should,notwithstanding whether they have the balance of power.”
Poker machine profits on the northern beaches have continued to soar in the past five years,with Liquor and Gaming NSW revealing punters lost more than $38 million in less than 100 days last year.
Across NSW in the same period between July and September,which advocates say reinforces the mandate for Perrottet’s election promise to turn gaming machines cashless.
While pubs and clubs in western Sydney recorded the highest profits in the latest quarterly report,Northern Beaches was among the top 20 LGAs with the greatest losses,with total daily losses surpassing $415,000.
There are approximately 2100 machines across the northern beaches,which include the Liberal-held state electorates of Manly,Wakehurst and Pittwater.
Since the adoption of its gambling harm management plan in 2018,Northern Beaches Council has called on state and federal ministers to minimise electronic gaming machines.
The council has not taken a position on cashless gaming;however,this year it will review its harm management plan.
Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan, said local councils had a significant role to play in lobbying,education and advocacy to minimise the harms associated with poker machine gambling.
“However,we are limited in[terms of] regulation and look towards the state and federal governments to create the most effective policy frameworks to address this complex issue,” he said.
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